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000213 DenniJ Schutz BringJ New PerJpective to the SouthweJtern Water CO/lJervatwn DiJtrict Board Dennis Schutz has spent his entire life working the land around Chromo, Colorado. He grew up on a cattle and quarter horse ranch and now manages a 60,000 acre preserve in the area. Regardless of the management objectives on the land he has overseen, water has been a key element. The preserve he now manages is using its water rights to foster water fowl, song birds, and other wildlife. Dennis, who began representing Archuleta County in December of 2001, is carrying on a legacy started by his late father, Ernie, who served for 20 years on the Southwestern Board. His father was part of the early Animas-LaPlata planning and believed in the need for more storage. "I think that as the population continues to grow we need more storage but we also need better conservation practices," Dennis says. He noted that as more developments spring up and thus folks wanting lawns and flowers, the town of Pagosa Springs and Archuleta County will have to be stricter with water conservation practices. "People in agriculture have always known the value of water. As we get more people and less rain and snow, everyone will begin to realize just how valuable water is to us all," he said. ~ Evel:! D/~op fO/~ Sale by Jeffrey Rothfeder The world's thirst for water - for drinking, irrigating, and manufacturing - keeps growing. Jeffrey Rothfeder eloquently describes many examples of just how global both the market for water as well as our water crisis reaches. His bias toward a localized, environmentally sensitive approach to water management is evident, but his book is well researched and easy to read. The fundamental question within this book is whether water is a right or need. The increasing privatization of water management negates the premise that access to clean water is in fact a right since we all must have it to exist. Our bodies are 65% water and brains 75%. According to Rothfeder, the world is increasingly fighting over the right to take a drink of water. He sites several examples. One case in point is Cochabamba, Bolivia, in 1992. A bloody uprising occurred when the local government gave up trying to provide clean water to the city and sold the rights to Bechtel, a San Francisco based company. The fighting question was who owns the water in a community as well as how much clean water is delivered to residents and at what price. He quotes several world leaders who believe that the next world war will be fought over water not oil. Rothfeder unveils some unsettling statistics about water privatization. About 15% ofD.S. based water systems have gone private. The private water sector generates $80 billion each year. World wide, private water industry revenues approached $800 billion last year according to the World Bank. In 1999, water auctions debuted on the Internet at sites like water2water.com and waterrights.com where individuals with excess water such as farmers with irrigation contracts could put their water rights up for sale to the highest bidder. 50 liters per day is the amount of water needed per day/per person according to Rothfeder's research. This figure includes bathing and cooking. In stark contrast is the fact that toilets in the u.S. built before 1990 flush 23 liters per visit. Rothfeder found that 2.2 billion people around the world live below this minimum water level. Rothfeder spends a lot of time chronicling the water crisis in the world's deserts. Ironically, population growth in the desert states of California, Nevada, and Arizona outstrips all others. California, being the bellwether of water crisis' to come, has been looking at a private scheme that would ultimately cost the state $230 an acre foot for water piped by underground aqueduct versus the $25 per acre foot subsidized water from the Colorado River. This book is available in most bookstores and at used prices on Amazon.com ~ 3